Do you use "voice acting" when you play?

[TorgoTheWhite]

I use voices when I run games. My most (in)famous voice was that of Christopher Walken playing the dwarf king in a campaign I ran many years ago. My players still bring it up sometimes. What I try to do with silly voices is make an NPC memorable for the players, so I don't use them for every NPC. I can tell you when I put on my Walken voice the players all immediately knew who they were talking to.

I love this It can make it pretty easy to track conversation exchange for sure, you know EXACTLY who is talking without having to say "The King says___"

 

[Zaukrie]

Nope. I am incapable of it. That’s a talent I definitely do not have.

Same. Every once in awhile I try, for comedic effect. I think I've had one player, maybe two, in nearly fifty years who did. I think it's less common than most think, but I have no idea if that's true.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

Mostly to highlight IC from OOC speech.

No. I do however employ a "different" voice from my normal everyday talking style so IC language is distinct. I usually only make minor changes so I can have a greater selection of "voices" in case the PCs are interacting with multiple NPCs simultaneously. More often than not a "voice" is simply a change in pitch, tone, cadence, or pattern of speech. Sometimes for "really important" NPCs I will use the "bad impression" method to make sure that the NPC "voice" is truly distinct.

My "regular voice" is used exclusively for OOC speech.

I preface every segment of IC speech with <[PC Name] says "(whatever)">.

This thread is funny timing. A few days ago I finally watched my first ever Actual Play YT video! Mind you, not "the big one" cause I was turned off of that particular group early on. I was actually thinking about posting about my experience, so yeah, interesting timing.

Anyway, one of the things I was going to mention in the post I've been thinking about making was the "funny voices" thing, or more importantly, the lack thereof. So, several of the AP I watched had a cast that all did "funny voices" for IC speech. The quality is hit and miss as a few people went a little overboard which made their IC speech hard to understand, but all in all, it made for a great experience because it's super easy to differentiate between IC and OOC speech. A couple of groups were a mixed bag with only some of the cast doing voices, which led to some confusion on my part (and some fellow cast) as to what actually was IC speech. There was also one group in which no one did any "funny voice" stuff at all, with only a single cast member that would preface IC speech with a "PC says" note. Frankly, that particular AP was confusing and hard to follow at times (not just for me but also for the cast) simply because it was literally impossible to differentiate IC from OOC speech. In fact, "did PC say that?" was an overly repeated question throughout the entire video. This recent experience definitely highlighted the usefulness of the "funny voice" as a tool to quickly and easily differentiate between IC and OOC speech.

As a final note, in regards to the "embarrassing myself" aspect of doing voices, especially in public or in front of strangers, never happens. I'm old enough to have lived through a time where my love of "nerd stuff" resulted in me being bullied and ostracized. The idea that I would, in this new and amazing time where "nerd stuff" is cool, be embarrassed by it is mind boggling. Nerd it up fools! Besides, the more I "ham it up" with "funny voices" and expressive gesturing, the more relaxed other participants become, often joing me in the fun!

Great topic for a thread! Cheers!

this as well. I am of a different background. More like non-stop athlete that needed to escape from that with exposure to cerebral stuff.

But I am also a . I have no need for pretext these days, but also I hone my social skills and adaptability with this. Since I am an oldster with a smaller list of friends these days, I have found it important to open up my vulnerabilities, to essentially train wearing my heart on my sleeve better. Allowing those childlike vulnerabilities has also opened up some of that childlike wonder at times... it truly is a skill to be developed. Basically, it helps make our playgroup be a little more closely knit when someone is like: "damn! He's really going for it!"

 

[TheHand]

Yes, I always have, but I will moderate the voices I do if a certain group isn’t into it as much. The voice helps me find the character’s personality.

 

[grankless]

Only enough to differentiate between IC and OOC speech.

 

[James Gasik]

Yes, though I'm pretty far from professional quality, lol. I don't know how my players feel about it, but at least they don't make fun of me!

 

[Agamon]

If it's an important npc that the PCs are going to spend time talking to more more than a scene, then yes, I give them a distinct voice. It helps to more easily respond as the npc would. If the npc has a commanding, or shy, or excited, or devious voice, I need to think less about how to respond. I don't play a lot, but my last PC was a giant in Daggerheart, and he had a deep, gruff voice. My own players, otoh, while they will speak in character, don't do voices. I get it's not easy or fun for everyone, so it doesn't bother me either way.

 

[GrimCo]

I try sometimes, when mood hits me. Not that i'm very good at it. But more often than not, i just my regular voice/accent.

 

[ezekielcroe9]

I try but am not good! I do this mostly while GMing as it tends to help players understand which character is speaking. Something I learned after many years of playing is that it's not the accent, but the word choice, the mannerisms, and the vocal tics to define the characters.

 

[Blue]

As a player
How my character speaks and interacts is the heart of roleplay. Voice acting is a facet of that, but only a facet. Word choice/vocabulary is another, which can tie into voice acting or be done without it. Attitudes and reaction will color how you speak, be it with your natural voice or a different one. And of course beliefs, goals, loves and hatreds, will change what I speak.

To expand out from voice acting to just acting, mannerisms and body language also comes into play. It's why I am unsatisfied with voice-only only play.

Like an actor, I do want to represent my character. And for me I find that it's easier to chose different words, use different vocabulary, speak using a different sentence structure, if I am not speaking with my normal voice. And since that can also add to it, I see it as a win-win. As long as I can be consistent over a campaign, and it's a reasonable voice to do for all of the emotions and drama over a campaign, not some over-the-top that's better suited for humor.

Mind you, this doesn't mean I push this on others. It's what I do for how I represent my character.

As a DM
Many NPCs only show up for a scene, or even if recurring it's once every couple of sessions, so many scenes without them. This gives a limited window to establish them and/or to remind the players who they are, Voices are one of the tools in my toolbox for doing so, and since it's a tool I know how to use it makes no sense to forsake when it makes sense to use. In addition, there are often more than one NPC in a scene with NPCs roleplaying, and it can work very well to let the players know which NPC is speaking.

Just last night I was running Mothership, and there were three NPCs talking all over each other each trying to convince the PCs that their particular goal was the one that needed to be done right now, as time (minutes!) were of the essence. Without having aurally distinct NPCs this would have been a much harder scene to run and much more confusing for my players.

Unlike my summary as a player, I do urge GMs to learn at least the basics of this for the reasons I gave. Like a GM doesn't need to know how to improv -- but it helps games. A GM doesn't need to know all the rules -- but it helps games. But in this case a GM doesn't need to know how to make their NPCs aurally memorable and distinct -- but it helps games. There are plenty of tools in the toolbox of successful GMs, and the basics of this one can be picked up by most with some work, so why wouldn't you? I'm fairly sure that even those who say "I'm not good at this" could do a half decent job portraying an old woman and her young grandson in such a way that the players can tell who is speaking without the GM having to tell them. I'm not saying we need to be Mattt Mercer. I'm saying that making your NPCs distinct and memorable through what they say and how they speak -- which can include "voice acting" is a useful talent and can be done by most.